


Upgrade

by eggswrites



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: i promise ill do better, kinda angsty, kinda boyfs?, kinda gay, kinda just a lot of bs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 09:54:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10988511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggswrites/pseuds/eggswrites
Summary: Basically, I rewrote the scene in the song Upgrade. I hope you enjoy it!





	1. Jeremy

JEREMY

An upgrade. Computers do it, phones do it. Why couldn’t he? After all, he had a CPU installed in his head. He was still skeptical, as the SQUIP tried his hardest to sell him on the idea.  _ Gotta get an upgrade _ , the program chanted. Upgrades meant change, and Jeremy wasn’t sure change was what he really wanted. He wanted Christine to notice him, sure, but was it all necessary?

However, the SQUIP continued to explain, it was a process. First Brooke, and then.. Jeremy watched as Christine walked by, his mind filling with that same angelic choir it always did. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it this time, however. He could almost hear the SQUIP harmonizing along with it.  _ Christine… Christine…  Christiiiiiine…. _

Jeremy’s train of thought was cut short when he saw a familiar red blur in the corner of his eye. He couldn’t quite focus on it, but he only knew of one person who would wear a jacket that color red. 

“Michael?”, Jeremy called out, and the blur focused. Michael had his hood up, and was slouching as if to be unseen, which struck him as familiar. Oh, right, that was  _ his  _ tactic, after all. Upon hearing his name, Michael stopped and turned around. “I’m so glad to see you! Where have you been all day?” 

Michael seemed to tense, lowering his hood defensively. “Really?” Michael answered, “so you’re not the one who’s been avoiding me?” Jeremy wasn’t entirely sure if Michael was being sarcastic and actually believed Jeremy was avoiding him. He wouldn’t ever- he took a moment to pause before he commandingly thought  _ reactivate.  _

“It’s called Optic Nerve Blocking,” Jeremy heard the SQUIP say, before he could even ask why he hadn’t seen Michael all day. From his point of view, the SQUIP was now standing right over his shoulder, almost as if it was trying to whisper into his ear. “I have been blocking Michael from your field of vision.” Jeremy had to take a moment to remember he couldn’t exactly respond out loud, what with the shock of a computer being able to basically make him blind to another individual, so it took him a moment to reply with  _ wait, what?  _ in his own mind. Smooth. 

“Michael is a link to Jeremy 1.0,” the SQUIP explained. Jeremy wasn’t sure how comfortable he was with being referred to like he was a version of Windows. “To upgrade, you have to be willing to make sacrifices.” It was almost as though Michael knew that the SQUIP started talking, because he picked up right when the SQUIP stopped.

“Seriously, what’s up with you?” Michael asked, his tone a bit too judgemental for Jeremy’s liking. “You’ve been acting  _ shady _ , ever since… Since….” Michael stopped, and Jeremy could almost see the gears turning in his friend’s brain. He had this expression, which usually only happened when Michael solved a puzzle in a game, which was super hard until you thought about it, and then it became easy as pie. 

“It worked, didn’t it?” Michael asked, slackjawed. Jeremy nodded, but he could see a smile creeping up on Michael’s face, which for some reason, made him extremely uneasy. “Huh,” Michael chuckled, and then his volume went from five to a solid twenty in no time at all. 

“JEREMY! That’s amazing!” Michael exclaimed, and Jeremy could  _ feel  _ the SQUIP watching over his shoulder.  _ Judging.  _ “We gotta test it out! No, we gotta celebrate! We gotta…” Michael thought for a second, and his smile turned wide. “Get stoned in my basement!” 

For Jeremy, it was almost as though time slowed. He had a choice. He already knew what it was like to be a loser, to only have one friend. Maybe it was time for him to get to that next level, and have the experience of  _ not  _ being a loser. He just wanted to be as chill as life could possibly allow, after all. So… would he take the upgrade? As he pondered this, he felt the sudden urge, like a push, that practically shouted  _ now, now, now.  _ Take the upgrade  _ now.  _

He wanted to go all the way and then some, and in order to do that… Jeremy had never been so sure of himself in his life. He wanted that upgrade, he  _ needed  _ the upgrade. It didn’t matter how he got it, he wanted it. Jeremy had spent his whole life being a good kid, being truthful about where he was when he wasn’t home (which was mostly always Michael’s house), and was always true to himself. But now? Now he wanted a new perspective on life, and maybe try something new. 

“Jeremy?” Michael called out, snapping Jeremy out of his own head and back into reality. “Are you coming?” He had two options at this point: he could go with Michael, and be a loser forever, or…

“Optic nerve blocking on,” Jeremy stated plainly, robotically. As soon as the words had passed from his lips, Michael was gone. A blur. He felt a rush of confidence, in both himself and his SQUIP. “Now…” the SQUIP interjected, “let’s get to work.” 


	2. MICHAEL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i lied this chapter is gayer  
> pls leave me any criticism!! i just wanna learn!

MICHAEL

Who the  _ hell  _ did Jeremy Heere think he was? Michael had watched as Jeremy breezed past him, at least seven times that day. But who was counting, right? Not Michael, that’s for sure. 

Michael had let the first three times go, thinking maybe Jeremy was just tired, or hadn’t had breakfast so he was acting stupid. Lack of nutrition can do that. But the other four times led Michael to believe something with his whole heart: he had done something  _ wrong _ . Which was absurd. Jeremy and Michael never fought, if silly arguments didn’t count. So that left him with one question: what had he done?

Michael wandered the halls with this hood up and covering as much of his face as possible, with Weezer’s Pinkerton blasting in his ears as loud as he could crank it. Was this Jeremy’s way of getting revenge on Michael for all the times Michael accidentally let him die in a video game? Or was Jeremy high? Michael felt a pit in his stomach as he walked by Jeremy, who was zoning out in the middle of the hallway, like always, staring at Christine.

.His back was to his best friend when  _ Across the Sea  _ came to an end, and he heard someone call out his name. “Michael?” he heard Jeremy call. Michael almost kept walking.  _ You’re still high, he probably doesn’t even want to talk to you _ . Regardless, he turned around, pausing his music from within his pocket. Jeremy’s face lit up, making Michael feel a shred of hope, and he almost started to walk away. “I’m so glad to see you!,” Jeremy said, smiling, stopping Michael dead in his tracks, “Where have you been all day?” 

Michael lowered his hood, honestly prepared to fight. Did Jeremy get off on pretending?  _ Maybe he isn’t pretending _ , he hoped. “Really?” Michael replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm. “So you haven’t been avoiding me all day?” Jeremy looked confused, and then he zoned out. Again. Michael almost screamed with anger. Why was he standing there, all creepy and zombie-like? It was giving him the extreme creeps. 

“Seriously, what’s  _ with  _ you?” Michael finally said, and he noticed that Jeremy was actually paying attention and not frolicking in his own little la-la-land with Christine or whoever else inhabited the happy mind of Jeremy Heere. “You’ve been acting  _ shady _ ever since…” The puzzle pieces started to come together in Michael’s head, “since…” His mouth fell agape. That gray little tic tac actually  _ worked _ ? “It worked, didn’t it?” Michael asked, amazed. Jeremy nodded, looking a bit tense, but Michael didn’t give it too much thought. 

“Heh…” Michael chuckled, his excitement building. Jeremy  _ wasn’t  _ ignoring him! It was a weird computer in his head, or that’s what Michael understood from it all. “JEREMY!”, he exclaimed, his excitement exploding within him, and his emotions just pouring out.  “That’s amazing!” A supercomputer  _ inside his best friend. _ That was the most surreal shit he had heard all year! 

“We gotta test it out!,” he offered, “No, we gotta celebrate! We gotta…” Michael thought about it, and his grin widened, as an idea occurred to him, “Get stoned in my basement!” Michael waited expectantly, bouncing a bit on his heels. Jeremy seemed deep in thought, probably considering his offer. “Jeremy?” Michael called out, feeling a ball of dread when Jeremy made eye contact with him. “Are you coming?” 

He watched as something kind of…  _ snapped  _ inside Jeremy, and a little corner of his best friend’s lips rose up in a smug smirk that sent chills down Michael’s spine. Almost robotically, Jeremy said, “Optic nerve blocking on.” And just like that, it was as if Jeremy didn’t even see Michael anymore, and he just… kept walking. 

Leaving Michael alone to his own awful thoughts once again.  _ What did I say what did I do what does that mean?  _ “Jeremy!” Michael called out, and in a moment, he decided to go after him. “What the hell, man?” He started, grabbing his friend’s arm, and being surprised to find that Jeremy shocked him. Not like a little lingering static, like… a legitimate shock. Hissing in pain, Michael pulled back and inspected his hand. No damage. He looked up again to see his best friend, with BOYF still written on his bag, walking off. Not even giving him the time of day. 

It was then that Michael determined something was seriously off, and that Jeremy needed him more than ever.  _  He had some work to do.  _

 

 


End file.
